The Council’s Smart Approach to Spending

I applaud the Brunswick Town Council for their thoughtful discussion and action regarding a maximum tax rate increase for next year’s budget. This approach has been used successfully in other municipalities and provides guidance to the town and school leaders in preparing their budget submissions. After all, the department heads and managers are the ones best able to asses their needs when given some target to shoot for.

The Council is wise to take this approach in light of large increases on the horizon to service debt for a new school, possible fire station, land fill closure and other capitol expenditures. While I believe that the rate increase range of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent is too high I support their proactive stance.

Sande Updegraph,

Brunswick

Too Much at Risk

We live on a small tidal cove. If you spent a little time here you’d notice lots of goings on.

In winter, ducks and loons bob and feed.

In spring, working boats ready moorings and deploy docks and floats, lobstermen set traps, ospreys build nests, and an oyster farmer tends his rafts.

In summer, flotillas of kayaks glide in, gulls perch on the railing, boats sail by, fishermen troll for stripers, great blue herons wade in the shallows, clammers bend to their work at low tide, and seals haul out to sunbathe on the ledges.

In fall, ducks and duck hunters return, bald eagles cruise the shoreline, the docks and moorings are set for winter, and the oyster farmer, lobstermen and clammers continue their year-round work.

All this is dead in the event of an oil spill.

No drilling on this coast, please. The cost is too high.

Jock and Annie Winchester

Pemaquid

The Right Thing

Bath Iron Works has far less need of $60 million than do the communities of our financially strapped state. I hope our legislators will see this, and do the right thing.

Eric Herter,

Brunswick

We Don’t Need Grand Standing

Reading the article “Officials slam CMP storm response” (The Times Record, Feb. 7, Page A2), I could not help but feel that the statement by state Rep. Seth Berry, “CMP’s lack of preparation and coordination put customers lives at risk and will cost consumers millions of dollars,” could be applied to more than CMP.

Family and friends from Newcastle to Sebago Lake, related that they felt they were in a vacuum and did not feel a sense leadership from state government.

I did see a quick glimpse of Gov. LePage in Brunswick scowling with his arms crossed. The media tried and told us this was terrible storm with significant damage (something you knew looking out your window or driving on a dangerous road looking for gas ).

The state government should be doing a self-evaluation — what controls should have been in place to lessen the severity of this event, what were we doing during and what can be done differently?

Should we have called out the Maine National Guard? With their equipment expertise and command and control system, they would have made a great difference.

States up and down the East Coast have not hesitated in times of crisis.

We do not want you to fight for us, we want you to work for us. We do not want you to grand stand on an issue. We want you to objectively address them and produce solutions.

An example: When a Legislator learned that the National Guard had to replace a generator that had failed at the VA Hospital, he called for a study.

Where have you been? Our VA hospital have needed support for as long as I remember.

Let’s get to work and stop thinking about the next election.

Richard C. Golek,

Durham